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Think about an EdTech career in the UK and London probably comes to mind first.
That makes sense. London has a large concentration of technology companies, startups, investors and international businesses.
But it is far from the only place to build a career in education technology.
Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Derry all have companies working across education software, digital learning, skills, assessment, training technology and learning platforms.
And that matters if you are planning your next career move.
At RecruitHer, we work with EdTech organisations and education professionals across the UK. One thing we regularly see is candidates narrowing their search too early.
They search for EdTech jobs in London.
Or they search only for fully remote roles.
Both approaches can mean missing companies and roles that could be a very good match.
So, where should you be looking?
A quick note before we start. The organisations below are examples of companies with connections to each city. They are not necessarily recruiting at the time you read this, and working arrangements can change.
London remains the largest obvious hub for EdTech careers in the UK.
There is a mix of startups, scaleups, established education companies and international organisations with UK operations based here.
Companies include Multiverse, which works across workplace learning and skills, CENTURY Tech, which develops AI supported learning technology, and BibliU, which operates within digital higher education content.
The size of the London ecosystem means there are opportunities across sales, customer success, implementation, partnerships, product, learning, marketing, operations and technology.
But there can be a trade off.
Companies with a substantial London headquarters may expect people to spend more time in the office. Multiverse, for example, currently describes most of its London working model as hybrid.
So do not assume that a London company means remote.
But equally, do not assume every role requires you to live in central London.
Check the individual role.
Manchester has a strong technology, skills and training sector, making it another useful place to search.
OneFile is based in Manchester and provides learner management software for apprenticeships and training providers.
Northcoders operates in technology education and skills. Near Life creates interactive video and simulation based learning experiences. Mosaic by Penrose Education focuses on teacher training and development.
Manchester can therefore be particularly interesting if your experience sits somewhere between education, technology, apprenticeships, adult learning or professional development.
That opens up roles across learning design, implementation, customer success, partnerships, product, software and commercial teams.
Leeds absolutely belongs on the list.
Glean develops learning technology designed to help learners capture and work with information more effectively.
Smoothwall is another significant education technology company based in Leeds, providing digital safeguarding, filtering, monitoring and wellbeing technology to schools.
That combination shows why it is worth looking beyond the narrowest definition of EdTech.
Safeguarding technology is part of the education technology ecosystem.
Accessibility technology can be too.
Learning support software is part of it.
The sector is much wider than curriculum platforms.
Sheffield has fewer EdTech employers than London, but it has some significant ones.
The obvious example is Twinkl.
Twinkl started in Sheffield and has grown into a global education publisher and technology business.
Sheffield is also home to Tutorful, an online tutoring platform.
Companies like these can offer roles well beyond teaching and content.
EdTech companies employ curriculum specialists, customer success professionals, salespeople, marketers, designers, product managers, researchers and technology teams.
The smaller local market means it is sensible to widen your search too.
Look at Sheffield based organisations, but also search for UK remote roles and companies headquartered elsewhere that recruit nationally.
Birmingham is another city worth including.
Learning Labs, the company behind FlashAcademy, is based there. FlashAcademy develops language learning technology, including products supporting learners with English as an additional language.
Birmingham also has businesses working across further education, skills and education software.
That makes it particularly useful for candidates with experience in language learning, FE, employability, workplace skills or training.
Do not only search for school focused products.
The problems you understand may exist across a much wider education market.
Bristol brings together a strong wider technology sector with universities and education businesses.
LearnSci is a good example. It develops digital science learning tools for higher education, including lab simulations and interactive learning activities.
Sparx Learning has also developed a Bristol presence alongside Exeter and London.
Bristol can therefore be especially interesting for people who want to work around higher education, STEM, learning science, digital learning or product development.
Exeter deserves its own section largely because of Sparx Learning.
Sparx has its headquarters in Exeter and develops education products used by large numbers of students.
Location can matter quite a lot here. Some Sparx roles and programmes place a strong emphasis on working together from its Exeter office.
That is worth paying attention to.
Remote work has expanded the EdTech job market enormously, but not every EdTech company is moving towards fully remote working.
Some are actively choosing office based collaboration.
If you have strong feelings about office, hybrid or remote work, check this early in your search rather than waiting until the final interview.
Cambridge offers something quite different.
Here you have the overlap between education, publishing, assessment, research and technology.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an obvious example.
Its technology teams work on digital publishing platforms, interactive learning resources, adaptive learning and AI supported assessment.
This is an important reminder for career changers.
An EdTech career does not always mean joining a small startup.
Large education organisations increasingly employ product managers, developers, data professionals, marketers, sales teams, learning specialists and customer teams to build and grow digital products.
Cardiff gives us another useful part of the UK market.
Learna is based there and delivers flexible online postgraduate education, particularly within healthcare and professional education.
GroupEd is another Cardiff based education software business building technology for schools.
That gives Cardiff a mix of school software and online professional education.
For someone coming from education, university or healthcare learning, it is another market worth exploring rather than assuming that all the relevant companies sit in Bristol or London.
Glasgow has its own learning technology ecosystem.
Imagine Learning UK, formerly Twig Education, creates multimedia curriculum and learning products and has a Glasgow base.
Klik2Learn focuses on digital English language learning.
Neve Learning works in learning technology with a focus on accessibility, neuroinclusion and personalised workplace learning.
That makes Glasgow interesting for candidates with experience across curriculum, language learning, digital content, workplace learning, accessibility or learning design.
Edinburgh has a particularly interesting mix of software, education, training and STEM technology.
Sumdog creates game based maths learning products.
Robotical develops educational robotics and STEM products.
Administrate develops learning technology for organisations managing large training programmes and has its roots in Edinburgh, while operating with a geographically distributed team.
Multiverse has also announced an Edinburgh technology hub.
That combination is useful because it shows how one city can contain school focused EdTech, workplace learning, STEM products and technology teams serving international markets.
Northern Ireland deserves more attention when we talk about UK EdTech careers.
Belfast has companies working across education software, digital learning and school communication.
Equipple, for example, builds parent engagement and school communication technology.
Smaller EdTech businesses can also show an interesting working pattern.
Some functions stay close to headquarters, while commercial or customer roles may cover a much wider territory.
Derry is home to one of Northern Ireland's best known learning technology success stories.
Learning Pool was founded there and grew into a substantial digital learning and workplace learning technology business.
Businesses like this broaden the definition of an EdTech career again.
You might work with schools.
But you could also work in technology that helps organisations train and develop their employees.
The underlying skills across customer success, learning design, implementation, product and commercial roles can be very transferable.
Yes.
But perhaps less than it used to.
London gives you the largest number of organisations within commuting distance.
Manchester has a strong skills and training market.
Leeds combines learning technology with digital safeguarding.
Sheffield has major education publishing and tutoring businesses.
Birmingham has strengths around language learning and skills.
Bristol and Exeter have strong product and learning technology businesses.
Cambridge brings together assessment, publishing, research and technology.
Cardiff has school software and online professional education.
Glasgow has curriculum, language and digital learning businesses.
Edinburgh combines software, workplace learning, games and STEM.
Belfast and Derry add another part of the UK technology landscape.
But your home city should not become the boundary of your job search.
One of the biggest changes in EdTech careers has been the range of working models.
You will find fully office based teams.
Hybrid companies.
Remote teams.
And organisations where the answer depends entirely on the role.
There is no single EdTech working model.
That is why searching by company can sometimes be more useful than searching by location.
This is one of the biggest mistakes we see people make when trying to move into the sector.
An EdTech organisation could be hiring a Customer Success Manager, Implementation Manager, Learning Designer, Partnerships Manager, Account Executive, Product Manager, Curriculum Specialist, Education Consultant, Customer Trainer, Community Manager, Solutions Consultant or Marketing Manager.
None of those job titles needs to contain the word EdTech.
The company itself might not call itself EdTech either.
It could describe itself as education software.
Learning technology.
Assessment.
Digital learning.
Workplace learning.
Training technology.
Education publishing.
SaaS for schools.
Or an AI company working in education.
If your search starts and finishes with the keyword EdTech, you are probably missing opportunities.
At RecruitHer, we spend a lot of time helping education professionals see how much of their experience can translate into an EdTech business.
Where you live is part of that conversation.
But it should not become another barrier.
Instead of starting only with:
Which EdTech companies are near me?
Try asking:
Which education problems do I understand particularly well?
Which customers do I understand?
Which parts of my education experience could be valuable commercially?
Which type of company would allow me to use those skills?
Then start looking at businesses solving those problems.
Your knowledge of schools might take you into customer success.
Your curriculum experience could take you into product.
Your leadership experience could translate into partnerships or implementation.
Your ability to influence people could become a sales skill.
And your next employer might be ten minutes away.
Or 300 miles away.
The UK EdTech market is much bigger than one city.
Your search should be too.Your leadership experience could translate into partnerships or implementation.
Your ability to influence people could become a sales skill.
And your next employer might be ten minutes away.
Or 300 miles away.
The UK EdTech market is much bigger than one city.
Your search should be too.
Useful markets include Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Derry, alongside remote roles based elsewhere in the UK.
Not necessarily. EdTech companies use office based, hybrid and remote models, and the answer often depends on the role. Check the real working pattern rather than assuming from the company's headquarters.
Look beyond roles with EdTech in the title. Customer Success, Implementation, Partnerships, Account Executive, Product, Learning Design, Curriculum, Marketing and Solutions roles can all sit inside EdTech businesses.
Emilia Kruszewska is an EdTech recruiter and headhunter at RecruitHer, working with EdTech companies on commercial and leadership hiring.
London: Multiverse, CENTURY Tech, BibliU
Manchester: OneFile, Northcoders, Near Life, Mosaic by Penrose Education
Birmingham: FlashAcademy by Learning Labs
Bristol: LearnSci, Sparx Learning
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Glasgow: Imagine Learning UK, Klik2Learn, Neve Learning
